Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) said yesterday that President Bush's aides had applied a double standard by using flag-draped remains in a campaign commercial and then suppressing photos of military caskets returning from Iraq.
One of the Bush campaign's first ads included a fleeting shot of firefighters carrying remains through the World Trade Center rubble. Last week, the Pentagon said it had erred in answering a Freedom of Information Act request by releasing photos of coffins with Iraq war dead at Dover Air Force Base, Del.
Emanuel, a political director for President Bill Clinton, said it is a mistake to "use the value of privacy only when it's convenient."
"I'm calling for a little consistency in our values," he said.
A Web site posted Defense Department photos of the remains returning to Dover. But the Pentagon said it would continue to bar journalists from taking such photos.
Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) said Friday on CNBC's "Capital Report" that the policy is another sign that "truth is on the line in this election."
Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters in Lawrence, Kan., on Friday that the ban is "all about families, and it's all about treating remains properly."
-- Mike Allen
